Captain, your ship has exploded again.

Zhang Xun stood up, cursing and kicking at the breach. His power boots, imbued with divine power, struck the alloy shell of the enemy's armor. Under the immense force, the alloy armor dented irregularly, just enough to block the gap in the hole and temporarily stop the enemy troops from charging forward.

He rubbed his arm, which was stiff from the shockwave, and shouted at the slender figure busy beside the experimental table, "Are you done yet? If you keep dawdling, we'll be living like a pair of star-crossed lovers here today!"

The three remaining TX robots in the laboratory quickly converged at the breach under his tactical command, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the outside with their weapons in an attempt to suppress the enemy's offensive rhythm.

Hearing the shouts, Zhao Wanyang took off the quantum magnifying glasses on her head. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but a mocking smile appeared on her lips: "What, you've decided to dump your partner and run away with me?"

"Huh." Zhang Xun clutched his chest and took two exaggerated steps back, the hydraulic joints of his armor making a slight hissing sound.

"I kindly took you away, and you actually coveted my body!"

"Stop dreaming."

As Zhao Wanyang spoke, she manipulated the mechanical auxiliary arm to lift an iron ball the size of a basketball. The long hours of intense mental work had made her pale, and the strawberry lollipop in her mouth was almost crushed. "With your IQ, I'm worried that your offspring will be a degraded version. Besides, the example of the mandarin ducks you gave is that they are only faithful during the breeding season. Your scumbag nature is exposed."

"No, you've been busy all this time and all you've made is a ball?" Zhang Xun walked over and tapped the anti-slip texture on the surface of the iron ball with his knuckles.

"With so many intimidating shapes to choose from, why did you pick the one that looks most like a bowling ball?"

Zhao Wanyang rolled her eyes. Exhausted, she didn't bother to explain to Zhang Xun. After working continuously at high intensity, she had long since used up the nutrient solution in the auxiliary equipment. Because she was manually crafting high-precision weapons, she was too focused to connect to the life support system.

She took two steps toward the hole, holding the iron ball, when suddenly her legs gave way and she fell forward uncontrollably.

Zhang Xun reacted quickly, stepping forward to firmly support her waist.

The armor's temperature control system sent a cool sensation through her skin. Looking at the tiny metal shavings clinging to her eyelashes, he suddenly felt a moment of disorientation, as if he weren't in a war-torn space fortress, but in a commercial street in his hometown on Earth, having just finished shopping with Zhao Wanyang and complaining to himself about something.

"Hey, if you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to sue you for harassment."

Zhao Wanyang's voice was breathy.

"And don't you know it's incredibly tasteless to let a lady's feet dangle in the air?"

Zhang Xun then came to his senses. His armor had been damaged in the battle with General Wu Kedi, reducing his height from 2.3 meters to 1.97 meters. Even so, when Zhao Wanyang, who was 1.68 meters tall, was supported by him, her feet were still off the ground, like a kitten being lifted up.

"Oh? Oh, sorry!"

Zhang Xun quickly placed the person on the experimental chair next to him, picked up the heavy iron ball, walked to the breach, and turned back to ask, "How do you use this thing? Do you squeeze it to detonate it or stuff it into the cannon barrel?"

Zhao Wanyang weakly raised her middle finger at him, her breath trembling: "Press...press that bump, and then throw it into the enemy's pile like a bowling ball."

"Holy crap, you actually built a bowling ball!"

Zhang Xun turned around and kicked the hole again. The divine power was transmitted through the armor, directly kicking several enemy soldiers outside the hole away, armor and all. The surrounding enemies were knocked down by the force, and even half of the fuselage of two enemy mechs was stuck at the edge of the hole.

The main gate had long been blocked by the enemy's heavy firepower, and the alloy gate was twisted into scrap metal. Rather than going to great lengths to break it down, it would be better to use this temporary breakthrough to launch a counterattack.

"Idiot." Zhao Wanyang chewed the candy in her mouth, grabbed the small bottle of Cybertronian energy liquid on the lab table, and drank it all in one gulp. The spicy liquid invigorated her.

"A spherical surface can maximize the coverage area of ​​the shock wave, and the irregular bouncing allows it to enter the enemy's formation more smoothly, which is much more effective than a straight line!"

Zhang Xun grinned, and the moment he retracted his foot, he pressed down on the protrusion on the iron ball, causing a ring of light blue energy patterns to light up on the surface of the ball.

He swung his arm, tied a high-strength metal wire to the tail of the sphere to ensure it could be retrieved and prevent the enemy from using it against them, and then hurled the iron ball away.

The metal ball traced a smooth semi-circular arc in the air before precisely striking the enemy troops outside the hole.

The next second, a ring of silvery-white high-energy particle ripples suddenly spread out from the sphere. Wherever it passed, the originally agile enemies instantly became slowed down as if they had been thrown into water.

"Hiss, this thing is really weird!" Zhang Xun was thrown back half a step by the shock wave, and fine arcs of electricity appeared on the outer armor of his battle armor.

Are you sure this won't have any side effects on us?

The shockwave rushed into the laboratory through the breach, overturning the once tidy workbench, scattering instrument fragments everywhere, and causing reagent bottles to shatter and emit puffs of white mist—a scene comparable to a natural disaster.

Even Asuka and the others who were fighting on the periphery were jolted by the sudden energy fluctuations and had to retreat temporarily to observe the cause.

Meanwhile, inside the Death Star command center.

As Natal was staring at the 3D sand table issuing orders for the fleet to change formation, her seat suddenly shuddered violently, causing the cushioning pad on her chest to shake.

She instinctively gripped the 'damping buffer' against her chest with both hands until the seat's stability system activated, at which point she slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on, Tianwen?" Her voice remained calm.

"Did an explosion occur inside the Death Star?"

If Zhang Xun were here, he would definitely grin and shout, "Hey, wife, let go of that damper! That's my private spot!"

But he was busy in the lab at the moment and naturally had no chance to say these things.

Only Tianwen's cold, mechanical voice responded: "According to the vibration spectrum analysis, the source is the laboratory area."

The vibration was accompanied by a large number of penetrating particle rays, and all other types of detectors in the area were destroyed, presumably caused by the detonation of a new weapon developed by Dr. Zhao Wanyang.

Upon hearing that the commotion was caused by one of their own, Natal's tense hands instantly relaxed.

The fact that such a commotion could be caused means that Zhang Xun and Zhao Wanyang are both safe. Rather than worrying about them, the current battle situation is more troublesome.

On the sand table, the number of enemy fleet dots had surged from 800,000 to 1 million.

Subsequent reinforcements continued to join the formation. Although the support fleet was stretched into a loose straight line, it still maintained a suppressive bombardment rhythm.

The fleet's main gun counterattack was mostly evaded by the enemy using short-range warp. Even though the aftershocks wiped out 200,000 enemy gunboats, the losses were negligible due to the enemy's rapid replenishment.

"How long until the enemy's main fleet arrives?" Natal picked up the energy water on the table, took a sip, and stared intently at the fluorescent markers on the sand table. These were specific spectral fluorescent agents released when the enemy's warp interceptor was destroyed, which could continuously mark the trajectory of the enemy's main force.

"Estimated remaining time: 14 hours and 38 minutes." Tianwen's voice was completely calm.

"The next to arrive will be the enemy's main fleet, which will be completely different from the current long-range gunnery ships."

That's right, it was the enemy's gunboat force that gave the Human Alliance fleet such a hard time.

No matter how advanced the technology, it cannot escape the basic laws of physics; the larger the warship, the weaker its acceleration and maneuverability.

This is also why General Wu Kedi insisted on "fighting to the death".

Humanity's three 100-kilometer-class space fortresses are too slow to move and are too easily chased and killed by the enemy.

Commanders of fortresses belonging to different countries would likely retreat to Earth to protect themselves should the war situation collapse.

With humanity's current capabilities, revealing Earth's coordinates would be tantamount to suicide.

"Immediately synchronize the cooldown times of all primary weapons." Natal's fingers slid rapidly across the virtual control panel.

"Send out an encrypted communication satellite to notify General Wu Kedi that the attack must be launched only after the enemy's main force has fully deployed."

Her plan was clear: use her 600,000-strong main fleet to slow down the enemy's advance and create an opportunity for Wu Kedi's surprise attack.

Her last trump card was Zhang Xun in the laboratory. Even if the fleet's defenses collapsed, with his divine power, he could at least evacuate the core personnel. The only cost would be the destruction of all the warships in front of her.

“Captain!” the communications officer’s voice suddenly rang out.

"The Executor has completed emergency repairs and is accelerating toward the enemy's vanguard. Should we provide fire support?"

On the sand table, a bright blue dot representing the Executor is breaking through at a speed far exceeding that of conventional warships, like a sharp knife piercing the enemy formation.

Natal smiled helplessly and pressed the laser communication button: "Tell Shen Yuexin that if the Executor is gone, she can only be my vice-captain for the rest of her life, and she can never be promoted!"

Although the Executor is only nineteen kilometers long, it is the most thoroughly refitted warship in the fleet.

The Death Star was too large, and the cost of a complete overhaul was too high. Other battleships also needed to be cost-effective. Only the Executor was chosen because a lot of resources were invested to enhance its firepower and mobility. Of course, Shen Yuexin's original Candle Dragon also had a lot of resources invested, but the battleship was destroyed by her (it was destroyed by the Primordial Lord who was possessed by Megatron in the Hypermorph Universe).

"Captain, the Starkiller Cannon has cooled down. Shall we fire immediately?" Tianwen's voice was as cold as ever.

“No.” Natal refused decisively.

"The enemy is already on guard; we can't let them figure out our firing rate again."

She paused and added, "All fortifications are holding back the attack with all their might, and the charging speed of the main cannon (the original Death Star cannon) is slowed down. I'm saving it to give the enemy's main force a 'surprise'."

Currently, 30% of the human defense positions have been destroyed. These fortifications were not only used to counter the vanguard, but were also crucial to resisting the enemy's main force.

That's why she tacitly approved of Shen Yuexin's risky counterattack.

Rather than passively taking hits, it's better to let the Executor disrupt the enemy's artillery rhythm.

Time passed second by second, and the battlefield gradually fell into a stalemate of "turn-based artillery fire".

However, as more enemy troops continued to arrive, Natal's disadvantage became increasingly apparent, and the rate at which her defensive fortifications were being destroyed exceeded expectations.

A bead of sweat slid down Natal's forehead and down her firm jawline.

Just as it was about to drip onto the control panel, a warm finger gently caught it.

"Hey, my adjutant looks tired." Zhang Xun's flippant voice rang out from behind, carrying a faint smell of gunpowder.

"Has the captain been secretly thinking about you?"

Natal's tense body instantly relaxed, and she slowly slumped back in the chair, turning her head to look at Zhang Xun.

At this moment, Zhang Xun's armor was still covered with fragments of enemy wreckage, his face showed some fatigue, but his eyes were still bright.

"Hey, I didn't touch you, don't try to scam me." Zhang Xun raised his hands in surrender.

"Stop talking nonsense." Natal rolled her eyes at him, but handed him access to the control panel and said, "Come and take command. If you don't come soon, your precious Death Star will be destroyed by the enemy."